In his office, Adam Alba has a picture of early Mormon Apostle George Q. Cannon wearing a black and white stripe prison uniform in the 1890s. In the picture, Cannon is sitting with other prominent Mormons of the day who, like Cannon, were imprisoned for violating anti-polygamy laws.A Mormon himself, Alba, the co-counsel for the legal team representing the Brown family of Sister Wives fame in their legal battle with the state of Utah, reflected in an interview with Approaching Justice … [Read more...]

In response to an inquiry from Approaching Justice, author and polygamy researcher Brian C. Hales responded to Friday's ruling by the United States District Court for Utah which ruled that Utah's polygamy laws are unconstitutional."Theologically, the LDS Church's support of proposition 8 in California was a firm declaration against both polygamy and same-sex marriage," Hales told Approaching Justice. "So I expect such rulings will have no impact on Church teachings or … [Read more...]

Yesterday, the Federal District Court for Utah ruled that Utah polygamy laws violated the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.District Judge Clark Waddoup, in his ruling, addressed the 1878 Reynolds v. United States Supreme Court case which determined that religious duty is not a defense against criminal charges. Specifically, it is not a defense against anti-polygamy laws.In the ruling, Judge Waddoup cited Nate Oman. Oman is the Cabell Research Professor of Law at William … [Read more...]

Federal District Court Judge Clark Waddoup ruled today that Utah's anti-polygamy laws violate the free exercise clause of the first amendment. The case is a particularly high profile because the Plaintiffs against the state of Utah are Kody Brown and his wives. The Browns are famous from their reality show Sister Wives on the cable network TLC.From the introduction to the 91 page ruling: Before the court are the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment relating to Plaintiffs’ facial a … [Read more...]

Oh, wait.Jon Stewart breaks it down:Whiteness is lucky to have Fox News as a defender and champion.For a more serious discussion of the topic of race and Christ, check out The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey. … [Read more...]

On Monday morning, we awoke to find our "Elf on the Shelf" elf doing some light reading in the living room.He was reading The Examined Life by Robert Nozick. From the above picture, it appears that he was specifically reading the chapter on The Holocaust. This has come in handy, since I am writing specifically about that chapter today. Check back at Approaching Justice tomorrow to see if my collaboration with the elf produces anything interesting. Merry Christmas! Yes, even to all those … [Read more...]

Luke 1: 26-55 (NSRV)In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conce … [Read more...]